Locking device for hood

Abstract

A locking device for a closable box-shaped hood provided in an industrial vehicle. The hood has a recess on its lateral surface, a rotatable locking unit having a lever is provided in the recess, and a hood catch for engaging with a key-shaped section of the locking unit is provided on the vehicle.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A locking device for securing a hood in closed position on an industrial vehicle where the hood has generally vertical side walls with bottom edges that engage substantially horizontal surfaces on the body of the vehicle when the hood is in closed position, said hood being joined to the body of said vehicle for pivoting movement about an axis adjacent a first side of said hood such that said edges separate from said horizontal surfaces upon opening of said hood, one of said vertical side walls on a side of said hood other than said first side having a recess within which is disposed a latching mechanism, a keeper secured to said surface of said vehicle body below said recess, said latching mechanism cooperating with said keeper and comprising a bearing plate having arms generally parallel and extending perpendicularly from said one side wall of the hood and a bight portion between said arms and secured to said one side wall within said recess, a latch plate which is generally sector-shape with a narrow side connected by diverging lateral sides to a broad side, and having a pair of notches formed in said broad side such as to provide in succession a hook portion adjacent a lateral side of the sector-shape plate, a first notch for receiving a portion of said keeper, a first stop finger, a notch for receiving one end of a biasing spring, and a second stop finger adjacent an opposite lateral side of the sector-shape plate, a heel portion on said latch plate on the narrow side, means pivotally mounting said latch plate between said arms of said bearing plate for rotation about an axis normal to said latch plate and passing through said latch plate between said heel portion and said broad side, a spring coupled between said bearing plate and said second notch in said latch plate for biasing said latch plate into latching engagement with said keeper when said hood is in closed position, an operating lever joined to said heel portion of said latch plate normal thereto and positioned, when said latch plate is in latch closed condition, substantially coplanar with the adjacent vertical side wall of said hood and dimensioned to fit within the entrance to said recess with a bottom edge substantially parallel to and spaced from the underlying surface of said vehicle body sufficient to permit convenient insertion of the fingers of a hand therebetween, said hook portion of said latch plate having an inclined outer edge which upon closing of an opened hood engages said keeper and acts through camming action to rotate said latch plate against the urging of said biasing spring until said hook portion snaps over and under said keeper into latching position. 
     
     
       2. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second stop fingers engage the bight portion of said bearing plate when said latching mechanism is in latching and unlatching position, respectively, to thereby limit rotation of said latch plate relative to said bearing plate. 
     
     
       3. A locking device according to claim 2, wherein said bottom edge of said operating lever is provided with an elastomeric jacketting. 
     
     
       4. A locking device according to claim 1, wherein said bottom edge of said operating lever is provided with an elastomeric jacketting.